‘It was hellish’: Shoreline woman says gold bar scam cost her $3 million

A 78-year-old Shoreline woman said she lost $3 million in a gold bar scam involving secrecy and manipulation.

Shane believed she was helping investigators stop scammers and protect her savings. Instead, she bought gold and handed it to strangers.

Now, Shane is speaking publicly about the deception, hoping others will recognize the warning signs before losing their money.

Shoreline gold bar scam began with a fake computer warning

Shane said the scam began in April while she was clearing emails from her computer.

“My computer just blew up all of a sudden, just went crazy, flashing all this energy coming out of it, going, ‘Stop! You’re being hacked,'” Shane told KIRO Newsradio. She said the messages told her to “call these numbers right now. Chase fraud and Apple fraud.”

She called the numbers, but she was not speaking to Chase or Apple. She was speaking to scam artists.

“From that day on, they had me do everything they could possibly do to get me to liquidate almost all my assets. 95% of my assets all got liquidated, and per their instruction, I purchased gold,” she said. “I’m sitting there holding a million dollars’ worth of gold in my hands, and I hand it to a stranger. I mean, that’s how crazy this is.”

The scammers convinced Shane she was assisting an investigation. They told her that her money would be safe only if she converted it into gold and sent it to supposed gold reserves. They provided bogus receipts.

Scammers demanded secrecy during months of manipulation

They also told Shane not to tell anyone.

“It was hellish. It was absolutely hellish, not telling anyone,” Shane said.

She kept quiet because she feared something bad would happen to someone she loved if she spoke up. The scammers did not make any explicit threats.

“They just implied it,” she said.

About six weeks ago, Shane said, the man she had been speaking to every day told her she did not need to liquidate anything else.

Shane asked whether she could finally tell someone. He said yes.

“I don’t know why he did that, but he did, and so I immediately called one of my best friends, and she said, ‘Call the police now.’ So for like 10 minutes, I felt incredibly good because this was over, so to speak. And then, as soon as I called my friend and she said, ‘Call the police now,’ it started to set in that I had lost everything.”

At first, Shane felt embarrassed that she had been scammed.

“It’s just so inconceivable what I did. But it’s what I did, and I’ve learned in these last six weeks that that shame for being scammed is not mine,” she said. “It belongs to the scammers, and the trauma response is to not tell anyone is normal, and that’s what scammers count on.”

She calls what happened to her “a wake-up call that evil does exist.”

King County prosecutor shares scam warning signs

King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion applauds Shane for being brave enough to tell her story. Both hope it prevents someone else from being scammed out of their life savings.

Manion urged people to pause when someone demands urgent action or an unusual payment method. She also urged them to discuss suspicious requests with someone they trust.

“If a scammer asks you to keep a secret, that’s usually a giant red flag,” she said.

Manion also urged victims to report scams to local law enforcement. Investigations can be complex, she said, because perpetrators are often overseas and use methods designed to evade detection.

“These crimes are destroying people’s lives,” Manion said.

Shane’s message is simple: Do not face the fear alone.

“Just be safe, be smart, be safe,” she said. “Tell someone.”

King County gold bar fraud losses reach $4.6 million in 2026

In 2026, the King County Sheriff’s Office has received more than 300 scam reports involving at least $12 million in losses. Of those losses, $4.6 million is tied to gold bar fraud.

Shane doubts she will recover any of her money. But she does own “most” of her house.

“I also have faith,” she said.

Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.

Follow @FrankLenziKIRO